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Student Newspaper of the University of Southern California Since 1912 | www.dailytrojan.com | VOL. 173, NO. 6 | Wednesday June 22, 2011
InDEX 3 · Quick hits 4 · Opinion 5 · Lifestyle 8 · Classifieds 10 · Crossword 12 · Sports
Dream the dream:
Anniversary production
of Les Misérables arrives
in Los Angeles.
Lifestyle — 5
Sports — 12
Opinion — 4
“Why aren’t we [as
college students],
more visibly
concerned with
and vocally
supportive of
the causes we
believe in.”
Determined: USC
pitcher Chad Smith has
shown resolve despite
setbacks.
This day in
history
June 22, 1944...
President Franklin D.
Roosevelt signs the G.I.
Bill, compensating World
War I veterans.
Partly Cloudy,
High 81
Low 65
Today’s weather
Tomorrow’s weather
Partly Cloudy,
High 78
Low 65
On campus
today
A workshop noting the
importance of
communication in
relationships will be
held in the Lyon Center
at 12 p.m.
By Asher Feldman
Summer Trojan
The Los Angeles Times reported Thursday that the
Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Commission would
be unable to gather the $60 million required to make
the promised renovations to the Coliseum, leaving
USC and university officials to ponder the school’s
future in the 88-year-old stadium.
In the days since the report, officials from both the
commission and the university have remained con-fident
their working relationship can continue with-out
issue.
Kristina Raspe, associate senior vice president for
real estate and asset management said the universi-ty
intends to work with the commission to make the
renovations and keep USC at the Coliseum.
“USC remains committed to working with the
Coliseum Commission to find a way to achieve the
improvements needed for the Coliseum to become
a first-class stadium once again,” Raspe said in a
statement.
The Coliseum, which hosts all USC home football
games, is under the authority of the commission, a
nine-member committee comprised of city, county
and state officials that oversee the sports complex
and is funded solely by the revenue from its facilities.
The commission and USC agreed to an extendable
25-year lease in 2008, which allowed for USC to con-tinue
playing in the stadium while portioning 8 per-cent
of ticket sales and $1.8 million to the commis-sion
annually as well as giving USC the right of first
refusal if an NFL team were to propose relocation to
the grounds.
The 2008 agreement also provided a list of renova-tions
the commission committed to achieve.
Los Angeles City Councilman Bernard Parks, a
member of the Coliseum Commission and council-man
for the USC area, also stressed the continued
USC, Coliseum
look to iron
out renovations
Officials look to continue their long-standing
relationship despite reports of financial troubles.
| see Coliseum, page 2 |
By Asher Feldman
Summer Trojan
Confidence is often considered
key to the success of ambitious stu-dents
and professionals alike.
Now, a study reveals that not
only has the message hit home for
the newest college students, but
also that confidence is at an all-time
high among incoming col-lege
freshman, a result research-ers
categorized as an increase in
“overconfidence” among students.
The study, released in the
British psychology journal Self
and Identity, revealed that in 2009,
60 percent of participants be-lieved
their intellectual ability was
“above-average.”
Data has been collected on intel-lectual
and social self-confidence,
among other traits, by the UCLA’s
Cooperative Institutional Research
program since 1966, and the data
collected in 2009 represented the
highest percentage of students who
described themselves as having
high intellectual confidence in the
study’s history.
Darnell Cole, associate professor
of education, noted the trend of
self-confidence among the newest
college students stretched beyond
academia.
“College students particularly
have high levels of self-confidence
across the board,” Cole said.
Jean Twenge, psychology profes-sor
at San Diego State, described
the increase as more than an in-crease
in student’s abilities.
“It’s not just confidence. It’s over-confidence,”
Twenge, who led the
study, told the Associated Press.
Cole also noted that intellectual
self-confidence has been connect-ed
with gender and academic ma-jor.
“Women typically come
into college with slightly less
self-confidence when compared to
men,” Cole said.
The authors of the study argued
the increased confidence might be
a result of grade inflation, or as-signing
higher grades to work that
would have received a lower mark
in the past to bolster academic
achievement. The study noted that
in 1966 only 19 percent of students
surveyed earned either an “A” or
“A-minus” grade average in high
school, in comparison to 48 per-cent
in 2009.
In 1966, only 39 percent of
students surveyed said their intel-lectual
self-confidence was above
average.
“Often, if you’re getting good
grades all the time, then you tend
to think you’re doing well,” Cole
said. “If there is, indeed, grade in-flation,
then there is a higher sense
of intellectual ability than is war-ranted.”
Once students get to college,
self-confidence built by perfor-mance
in high school can play a
major role in their experiences.
“A correcting factor comes into
play, there’s an adjustment,” Cole
said. “For many [college students],
college isn’t as easy as high school,
so we do see adjustments to their
intellectual sense of self.”
Student self-confidence at all-time high, study finds
Sixty percent of incoming
freshmen self-identify their
intellect as above average.
Summer Trojan file photo
Driven · Students have shown greater self-confidence in their ability
to achieve academically in comparison to students in prior generations.
Dieuwertje Kast | Summer Trojan
Follow the leader
Orientation Adviser Tyler Vestal, a senior majoring in biology, leads a group of incoming
freshman around campus Tuesday during the first day of the third freshman orientation
session. Four more two-day sessions will be held before the start of the 2011-12 school year.

Student Newspaper of the University of Southern California Since 1912 | www.dailytrojan.com | VOL. 173, NO. 6 | Wednesday June 22, 2011
InDEX 3 · Quick hits 4 · Opinion 5 · Lifestyle 8 · Classifieds 10 · Crossword 12 · Sports
Dream the dream:
Anniversary production
of Les Misérables arrives
in Los Angeles.
Lifestyle — 5
Sports — 12
Opinion — 4
“Why aren’t we [as
college students],
more visibly
concerned with
and vocally
supportive of
the causes we
believe in.”
Determined: USC
pitcher Chad Smith has
shown resolve despite
setbacks.
This day in
history
June 22, 1944...
President Franklin D.
Roosevelt signs the G.I.
Bill, compensating World
War I veterans.
Partly Cloudy,
High 81
Low 65
Today’s weather
Tomorrow’s weather
Partly Cloudy,
High 78
Low 65
On campus
today
A workshop noting the
importance of
communication in
relationships will be
held in the Lyon Center
at 12 p.m.
By Asher Feldman
Summer Trojan
The Los Angeles Times reported Thursday that the
Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Commission would
be unable to gather the $60 million required to make
the promised renovations to the Coliseum, leaving
USC and university officials to ponder the school’s
future in the 88-year-old stadium.
In the days since the report, officials from both the
commission and the university have remained con-fident
their working relationship can continue with-out
issue.
Kristina Raspe, associate senior vice president for
real estate and asset management said the universi-ty
intends to work with the commission to make the
renovations and keep USC at the Coliseum.
“USC remains committed to working with the
Coliseum Commission to find a way to achieve the
improvements needed for the Coliseum to become
a first-class stadium once again,” Raspe said in a
statement.
The Coliseum, which hosts all USC home football
games, is under the authority of the commission, a
nine-member committee comprised of city, county
and state officials that oversee the sports complex
and is funded solely by the revenue from its facilities.
The commission and USC agreed to an extendable
25-year lease in 2008, which allowed for USC to con-tinue
playing in the stadium while portioning 8 per-cent
of ticket sales and $1.8 million to the commis-sion
annually as well as giving USC the right of first
refusal if an NFL team were to propose relocation to
the grounds.
The 2008 agreement also provided a list of renova-tions
the commission committed to achieve.
Los Angeles City Councilman Bernard Parks, a
member of the Coliseum Commission and council-man
for the USC area, also stressed the continued
USC, Coliseum
look to iron
out renovations
Officials look to continue their long-standing
relationship despite reports of financial troubles.
| see Coliseum, page 2 |
By Asher Feldman
Summer Trojan
Confidence is often considered
key to the success of ambitious stu-dents
and professionals alike.
Now, a study reveals that not
only has the message hit home for
the newest college students, but
also that confidence is at an all-time
high among incoming col-lege
freshman, a result research-ers
categorized as an increase in
“overconfidence” among students.
The study, released in the
British psychology journal Self
and Identity, revealed that in 2009,
60 percent of participants be-lieved
their intellectual ability was
“above-average.”
Data has been collected on intel-lectual
and social self-confidence,
among other traits, by the UCLA’s
Cooperative Institutional Research
program since 1966, and the data
collected in 2009 represented the
highest percentage of students who
described themselves as having
high intellectual confidence in the
study’s history.
Darnell Cole, associate professor
of education, noted the trend of
self-confidence among the newest
college students stretched beyond
academia.
“College students particularly
have high levels of self-confidence
across the board,” Cole said.
Jean Twenge, psychology profes-sor
at San Diego State, described
the increase as more than an in-crease
in student’s abilities.
“It’s not just confidence. It’s over-confidence,”
Twenge, who led the
study, told the Associated Press.
Cole also noted that intellectual
self-confidence has been connect-ed
with gender and academic ma-jor.
“Women typically come
into college with slightly less
self-confidence when compared to
men,” Cole said.
The authors of the study argued
the increased confidence might be
a result of grade inflation, or as-signing
higher grades to work that
would have received a lower mark
in the past to bolster academic
achievement. The study noted that
in 1966 only 19 percent of students
surveyed earned either an “A” or
“A-minus” grade average in high
school, in comparison to 48 per-cent
in 2009.
In 1966, only 39 percent of
students surveyed said their intel-lectual
self-confidence was above
average.
“Often, if you’re getting good
grades all the time, then you tend
to think you’re doing well,” Cole
said. “If there is, indeed, grade in-flation,
then there is a higher sense
of intellectual ability than is war-ranted.”
Once students get to college,
self-confidence built by perfor-mance
in high school can play a
major role in their experiences.
“A correcting factor comes into
play, there’s an adjustment,” Cole
said. “For many [college students],
college isn’t as easy as high school,
so we do see adjustments to their
intellectual sense of self.”
Student self-confidence at all-time high, study finds
Sixty percent of incoming
freshmen self-identify their
intellect as above average.
Summer Trojan file photo
Driven · Students have shown greater self-confidence in their ability
to achieve academically in comparison to students in prior generations.
Dieuwertje Kast | Summer Trojan
Follow the leader
Orientation Adviser Tyler Vestal, a senior majoring in biology, leads a group of incoming
freshman around campus Tuesday during the first day of the third freshman orientation
session. Four more two-day sessions will be held before the start of the 2011-12 school year.